Archive for 'Jamaican Dutchy'

Jamaican Dutchy has had a tough couple of years. After upgrading to a truck and moving their cart Downtown, the Dutchy had trouble parking in their old spot on 51st and 6th. They moved to 52nd, and then to Midtown East. There were rumors he was selling his cart, and then at the end of last year- boom. He was back on 51st and 6th 7th. But if you believe Facebook, it looks like the run has come to an end. The Dutchy Facebook page posted that they will be leaving Manhattan for good. No word yet on if they plan on popping up somewhere else, or if they’re just closing the business down- but either way it’s sad day for Midtown Lunchers. Thanks to Lunch’er Jill for the tip.

We noted last week that the Jamaican Dutchy tweeted that the original cart would be back in its old spot. And it’s true! The flat screen TV is MIA, but the Jamaican flag still waves proudly in the air and the menu is the same. O’Neil will continue to operate the truck on 43rd and Sixth, while Jillian (who has been working with O’Neil since the good ol’ days) will man the cart.

Jillian was the one who operated R. Retha’s Food last year in the Financial District. She told me the DOH forced them to close because of a licensing issue with one of their employees. But the cart is now back and will be open in its old spot on 51st near 7th Avenue Monday – Wednesday and then will head over to 52nd Street between 5th and 6th on Thursdays and Fridays. What a nice gift for Christmas!

Posted by brianhoffman at 9:00 am, December 17th, 2012 under Jamaican Dutchy.

The tweet yesterday mentions a “food card,” which I imagine is a typo for food cart. Perhaps the cart couldn’t sell and it’s back in action again. We have not been able to confirm specifics with O’Neil yet but the tweet sounds very promising that maybe we can get a taste of the good old days once again… if anybody hits it up today, report back in the comments.

Posted by brianhoffman at 9:00 am, December 3rd, 2012 under Jamaican Dutchy.

Anybody in the market for a food cart decked out with a flat screen TV? Today on Twitter, O’Neil from the Jamaican Dutchy announced that he is selling his cart. It used to be a staple of 51st Street and 7th Avenue with the Jamaican flag blowing in the wind, lively music videos, and whiffs of goat curry in the air. Once O’Neil upgraded to a truck (which has returned to Midtown on 43rd and 3rd), his cart was operated by a family member as R. Retha’s Food downtown. Sadly, they had some trouble with the Health Department as Andrea reported, and now the cart is on the market. The cart itself will surely be missed, but thankfully O’Neil’s food still thrives.

Posted by brianhoffman at 2:44 pm, October 2nd, 2012 under Jamaican Dutchy.

Okay, I’m addicted to curry chicken. Ever since I had a pretty decent curry chicken over rice from the Fahima Halal cart, I’ve been on the look out for other curry chicken dishes. Even though I know I need to take a long walk over to the West side to try the curry chicken from Trini Paki Boys cart, I just haven’t done it yet. I’ve been too lazy to walk from 3rd Avenue to 6th, so instead I found a few worthy curry dishes on the East side to satisfy my curry craving. After Fahima, I tried a not so spicy curry chicken from NY Biryani Express Cart. Then, most recently, my quest took me to Hop Won, followed by Jamaican Dutchy. How did their curry dishes compare to what I have had so far? Let’s find out.

Ever since the Jamaican Dutchy reappeared on the east side, I’ve been going there regularly. I know they have a long list of items and daily specials, but I’ve never had anything else other then their jerk chicken and their stew chicken. Then one day I decided to actually read the menu and the descriptions of each item, and was particularly intrigued by Friday’s lunch special- the escovitch chicken ($9 for small and $11 for large). What’s escovitch chicken? According to Jamaican Dutchy, escovtich chicken is boneless fried chicken. Two of my favorite words, fried and chicken. Since it was Friday, I had to check out what this was all about.

It’s been a tough year for the Jamaican Dutchy. For years they had been on 51st btw 6+7th. Then in June of this year they decided to switch their operation to a brand new truck, while the cart went downtown. Unfortunately right when they debuted the truck the crack down of street food vendors started and they were forced to leave their spot by the police and ever since they’ve struggled to find a regular spot to set up. And we got screwed out of delicious Jamaican food! Well, Midtown Lunch’ers rejoice, O’Neill has brought the Jamaican Dutchy truck back to midtown. Many of you Lunch’ers had spotted the Jamaican Dutchy truck on 43rd btw 2+3rd and for now it seems that that is their permanent spot, serving delicious Jamaican food to a new crowd of Midtown workers (aka us east siders!)

With the Jamaican Dutchy on the east side now, Midtown east has two Jamaican trucks (Jamaican Dutchy and Jerk Pan). It’s hard not to compare the two trucks since they park relatively close to each other. I decided to get an order of a small brown stew chicken ($8) since I’m a fan of Jerk Pan’s brown stew chicken.

The other week, we were happy to report that O’Neill and the Jamaican Dutchy truck is back in action in Midtown, and it seems like they’ve found a permanent spot (for now) on 52nd between 5th & 6th ave. I stopped by for lunch the other day, and despite the flashy new truck, the food is just as good as always.Read more »

On the ML Twitter Tracker today… Luke’s Lobster is on 55th & 3rd, Schnitzel & Things is on 51st btw. Park+Mad, Crisp on Wheels is on 51st & Park, Taim Mobile is on 40th & 6th with green olive falafel, Bian Dang is on 53rd btw. Park+Lex, Wafels & Dinges is on 46th btw. 5+6th, Korilla is on 55th & Lex, Gorilla Cheese is on 55th btw. 6+7th, Eddie’s Pizza is on 52nd btw. Lex+3rd, and it appears as if the new Jamaican Dutchy Truck is now parking on 52nd btw. 5+6th.